The Region

The Air Force's new B-1B strategic bomber set nine world speed, distance and payload records, including four previously held by a Soviet aircraft, officials said. The 2-year-old aircraft, considered the cornerstone of the Strategic Air Command fleet, also set nine new records not previously categorized. All eighteen records were established during a five-hour, 3,130-mile flight that began and ended at Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force Maj. Jim Anderson said. The bomber flew the distance at 655 m.p.h. and carried 67,300 pounds, whereas a Soviet Il-76 transport plane, which has held four of the records since 1979, flew the same distance with the same payload at only 507 m.p.h. "In flying the distance at that speed and with that payload we set the records and established the extraordinary capabilities of the B-1B," Anderson said. "We can carry more, farther and faster."